Recovery time

Hello all! I am having surgery on 1/16/09 and I am not sure how much time I need to take off of work. I have heard that people have gone back to work from 48 hrs to 2 weeks. Any input on how your recovery went will be greatlt appreciated.

thanks in advance,

Michael ~

Hi Michael, this is a very personal decision. A co-worker of mine and I had surgery within a week of each other. I took of 2 days, she took off 4 weeks. Have you had laparoscopic procedures before? How is your pain tolerance? Do you recovery quickly? Are you a "work through it no matter what" kind of person? If you have nothing to compare this to, you might want to consider a week or so off work. How prepared for this are you? Can you afford the time off, or is it paid time off? I know I am throwing a lot at you, but these are all the things you need to think about pre-op before deciding how much time to take. Also, how much of a risk is your surgery? People with higher BMIs tend to have a higher risk during surgery, so the higher your BMI, the longer it might take you to recover. I am not saying that is true for everyone, just the data trend. I didn't even notify HR I was having surgery; I just took vacation for 3 days. Now, had I had problems I would have been up a creek without a paddle, but I just didn't feel that need. I was shopping the day after I came home. Some people really struggle with the CO2 gas used to inflate your belly for the procedure.
Just things to think about, and again it is totally an individual decision. Congrats on your date and keep us informed!

I am unemployed so can't tell you how quickly I went back to work. What I can tell you is  I had surgery on Tuesday, went home on Wednesday and drove myself to the doctors office on Thursday. The only pain meds I took were in the hospital. Good luck on your journey.

It is a personal preference. A friend had surgery on Friday and was back at work on Monday.  I was expecting the same thing, however I did plan to take a few weeks off after the surgery since it was covered under my short term disability.  But I assumed that I would be able to walk and drive, and that was not the case. I was in pain for about a week and could not drive until 4 days after the surgery.  My job covered me for 4 weeks, and the first 2 weeks I was getting adjusted to sleeping and the pain medication.  After the 3rd week, I was fine but I am glad that I didn't plan to go back to work immediately.

I had my surgery on a Tuesday, and I was back to work the following Monday. No pain at all, but I was really tired all day. Your tummy may be tender but the hospital should give you a compression garment to wear. It's just a big elastic band that wraps around your mid-section. It really helps to pull in your tummy and make it all feel secure. I wore it to work every day for the first week.

I would suggest you take off at least 1 week, but that's just my opinion!

I took two weeks sick leave.  The first week I REALLY needed it, the 2nd week I felt pretty good, but needed the rest and was glad I took both weeks.  Don't jump back in to things too fast.

Jeane

Thank you all for you advice and support. I found it very helpful. I hope I have a smooth recovery like some of you have had. Happy holidays!

Hi Mike, it depends on what type of job you have. I am a firefighter and my surgery was Dec. 11th and I am back to work 2 weeks later on Dec. 25th. I was feeling great after about a week the worse was the gas for 3 days after those were the worse days they sucked I hurt bad i won't lie.  A week after I was able to sleep on my side like I like. but I was pain free after a week. Also A man takes longer to do the surgery for the fact that we have more visceral fat than women and a surgeon has to take his time. My surgery took 2.45 hours and I thought I would be going home in the afternoon but i was sadly mistaken I hurt. A woman's surgery takes less time because they don't have the fat we have most of the time they take 45 minutes to 1 hour to do and for the most part if they have surgery in the morning they get to go home after about 6 hours.